New Here - Cat Bailey newly diagnosed

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Molly Schoneveld

Member Since 2022
Hi everyone-I'm so happy to have found this site. Our 17 year old cat Bailey went into DKA the day after Christmas while we were 3000 miles away and had a cat sitter staying with him. It has been the worst week ever. He was hospitalized for five days (hello, $10K!). He is now home, thank goodness, but it's really hard to tell how well he's doing. He had some energy around lunch time today and was walking around, curious as I took down Christmas decorations and even stepped outside for a few minutes. But this afternoon, he's been very lethargic and seems depressed. We are doing insulin shots 2 x a day and he's still on antibiotics. Thankfully he is eating, though not as much I want him too (I am giving him an appetite stimulant) while he's on the antibiotic because it can make him have no appetite. Needless to say, this cat mom is super stressed out, so sad and don't really know what to expect—will he recover? Will he just kind of wither away at this point? My hope is that is lethargy right now is just based on all he's been through with us away. He's super attached to me (and me to him) and having a stranger here and then being in a strange place for a week was a lot. We are also giving him fluids every other day (he also has kidney disease, but it's not terrible yet). Anyway, looking for some moral support and would love to hear from anyone whose pet had to go to the hospital and what their recovery looked like at home. Thanks so much, Molly
 
Welcome to FDMB. You and Bailey have had quite the ride!

DKA is very scary. There are a number of people here, myself included, who have cats that survived a bad bout of DKA. Gabby was likewise hospitalized on a kitty ICU and was diagnosed with DKA, pancreatitis, and hepatic lipidosis. I had 2 vets tell me she might not survive. But, she did!

A bit more information would be helpful. What insulin are our giving Bailey and what's the dose? If you are not home testing her blood glucose and testing for ketones, I want to strongly encourage you to do so. The only way you will know if Bailey is stabilizing or if you need to do anything to intervene is to home test.
  • You can get a glucometer pretty much at any pharmacy. Many people here use Walmart's Relion glucometer because the strips are inexpensive. You will need a meter, extra strips, and lancets, preferably 28 gauge. This is a link to information on home testing your cat's blood glucose (BG).
  • You will want to test for urinary ketones. When you get your meter, you can also pick up Ketostix or whatever they call the store brand. Follow the directions on the package. Basically, you put the strip into your cat's urine stream or collect fresh urine and dip the strip. Wait 15 sec (or however long the instructions say) and compare the color of the strip to the guide on the package.
  • Make sure Bailey is eating. The basic rule for ketones developing is that your cat isn't getting enough calories, not enough insulin, and there's a source of infection or inflammation. Food is important. You want your cat eating x1.5 the usual amount of food. While ordinarily we want a diabetic cat eating low carbohydrate, canned food, whatever your cat will eat for the moment is fine. If you can get Bailey eating low carb canned food, that would be best.
  • Add water to your cat's food. Water helps to dilute ketones. Giving fluids is a plus!
We are very aggressive about managing ketones and BG in cats who have recently been diagnosed with DKA. I'm sure you don't have thousands more to spend and ketones can be life threatening.

There are also blood ketone meters you can purchase. NovaMax has a meter that tests both glucose and ketones. The meters are more accurate but the urine test strips are readily available and a lot less expensive than testing for blood ketones..

Please let us know how we can help.
 
Molly Schoneveld said:
Thank you for the fast reply. He's on 1U 2x a day of Glargine (Lantus). Thank you for the info. It's very overwhelming.
Click to expand...
The good news is that is a very good insulin. Your best bet for getting him in a good range is to 1. Test at home. You'll want to test before each shot and then at least one test mid cycle. I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home.

2. No dry food. Only low carb wet food.
 
Molly Schoneveld said:
Hi everyone-I'm so happy to have found this site. Our 17 year old cat Bailey went into DKA the day after Christmas while we were 3000 miles away and had a cat sitter staying with him. It has been the worst week ever. He was hospitalized for five days (hello, $10K!). He is now home, thank goodness, but it's really hard to tell how well he's doing. He had some energy around lunch time today and was walking around, curious as I took down Christmas decorations and even stepped outside for a few minutes. But this afternoon, he's been very lethargic and seems depressed. We are doing insulin shots 2 x a day and he's still on antibiotics. Thankfully he is eating, though not as much I want him too (I am giving him an appetite stimulant) while he's on the antibiotic because it can make him have no appetite. Needless to say, this cat mom is super stressed out, so sad and don't really know what to expect—will he recover? Will he just kind of wither away at this point? My hope is that is lethargy right now is just based on all he's been through with us away. He's super attached to me (and me to him) and having a stranger here and then being in a strange place for a week was a lot. We are also giving him fluids every other day (he also has kidney disease, but it's not terrible yet). Anyway, looking for some moral support and would love to hear from anyone whose pet had to go to the hospital and what their recovery looked like at home. Thanks so much, Molly
Click to expand...
What a scary and stressful story! Best to you and Bailey. Welcome to the site and hoping for the best!
 
Hi Molly and Bailey and welcome to the forum.
I’m sorry Bailey has had DKA but you have come to the best place to get help for his recovery.
Did the vet give you any antinausea medications such as cerenia or ondansetron to give before the appetite stimulant? You might want to ask the vet for some becasue many kitties are nauseated following DKA and need an antinausea medication.
As Sienne said food is really important at the moment, so what ever he will eat is the best food for him. Low carb is best but if he will only eat the food he was used to or even dry food, that is OK at the moment. Try offering snacks every couple of hours except for the 2 hours before you test the preshot.
Keep posting and asking questions. We are here to help.
 
Hi Molly!
My cat Benny(15) had DKA 6 weeks ago and 8 days in hospital. He was very wobbly and tired when he came home but has gradually been getting better. The people on here have been so good to us, holding my hand through everything and giving advice. Bron recommended the anti naus to me before the appetite stimulant and it really helped to give it this way. The Cerenia takes a while to kick in. We tube fed him for a while and gradually his appetite got better. It really did not matter what he ate, just that he ate. So 6 weeks later and he is going outside to laze in the summer heat here in New Zealand. He had moments every day where he would perk up a little and gradually these get more and more. it will take time. Benny is still not fully recovered. I hope this reassures you, Benny also has Stage 2 CKD and a heart condition.
 
im so sorry Molly
ive been here 3 weeks and there are some amazing people on fdmb
i hope Bailey starts getting better soon
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top